Concerning Our Future 2 Thess. 2:1-17

Concerning eschatology and the many views, the old joke is, “I’m a pan-millenialist! I’m on board with however it all ‘pans’ out.” In other words, how important is the program or system of eschatology; rather than the practical importance of eschatology? One thing is clear about Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church that we cannot miss; and that is Christian’s have a hope and purpose in life that should not inhibit our growth, the truth of the gospel, or the glory of Christ and His church. More succinctly spoken, “In view of the future God has planned, what can give our lives meaning and purpose? What can we do that our lives will not be wasted?” In thinking about what Paul says to the Thessalonians; we have to think about how this yet-future event might shape our lives today.

Excuse Me, I Must Have Been Wrong

How many of you have began to learn something new; but then after having been instructed in that new information, later had questions about how to practically work it out?

While you were learning, did you have occasion to forget or practically come across an obstacle that caused you to track down some solution to the problem; or even cause you to get upset, troubled, anxious, or even cause you to bring into question what you first learned?

It seems that some in Thessalonica reasoned that, since the Lord might come at any moment, it made little sense to plan ahead. Why even work, if Jesus might come before evening? Why plan, or prepare for the future, if Jesus’ arrival might make any preparations a moot point? So those who reasoned this way simply sat back, idle, and refused to work! They let other Christians feed them, and sat around gossiping their lives away. The fact that Jesus may come at any moment does not mean that He will come during our lifetimes! God calls us, not to sit and wait, but to be actively and responsibly involved in the affairs of this life. Paul wrote very bluntly:

You yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

When was the last time you were concerned with the “coming of Jesus” or “when we will be gathered to Him?” This is exactly what the Thessalonian church was concerned with…so much so that Paul used words like ‘shaken,’ or ‘startled’ to describe the countenance of the people. He says in v.5, “Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this?”

In fact, because of the unspoken familiarity between Paul and the Thessalonian church, Dr Leon Morris, stated that ‘This passage is probably the most obscure and difficult in the whole of the Pauline writings and the many gaps in our knowledge have given rise to extravagant speculations.’ This is what I have kind of mentioned to you before about speculating what the Scripture says, instead of resting with what God had revealed to us.

We came across this in our study of 2 Thessalonians 1, regarding the “clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment.... for which you are also suffering” What can we say in regards to the fact that we DO NOT UNDERSTAND or KNOW WHY we suffer? He also does not tell us everything about the future. Is He giving us just enough information to increase our faith and allow us to depend upon Him?

In the interim, there will be those who speculate about specific times, dates, and places when Christ will return or when the Antichrist will appear. They try to identify the leading characters of earth’s final days, naming individuals and speculating on how the nations will be aligned. Books on the subject abound and religious doctrines have even been built upon these speculations. After all the rhetoric, the supposed Antichrist fades from public life, or dies, and the anticipated day of Christ’s appearance comes and goes. People are left disappointed, disillusioned, or cynical. This is one of the reasons that Paul’s instructions are so very important. We should not presume to know the mind of God; except where He reveals His mind to us.

By the way, If we only consider what happens in this life to matter; then maybe questioning God is valid. But when we realize that God has set a future time to fulfill His role as Judge, then we might think differently. …. When Jesus returns all will be reconciled. Paul said that it was “with this in mind” that he shaped his prayers for the Thessalonians. He did not pray that they might have relief now from their troubles. Instead Paul prayed that God would continue to work among them, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Verse 2 says, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled

SHAKEN : σαλεύομαι: to become emotionally unsettled and distraught—‘to become unsettled, to be deeply distressed, to be upset.’ Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 314.

STARTLED θροέομαι: to be in a state of fear associated with surprise—‘to be startled.’ μηδὲ θροεῖσθαι μήτε διὰ πνεύματος μήτε διὰ λόγου

μήτε δἰ ἐπιστολῆς ὡς δἰ ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου ‘don’t be alarmed by some prophecy, report, or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come’ 2 Th 2:2.

The single word unsettled translates a phrase meaning ‘shaken from your mind’, that is, from your conviction or composure. The verb (saleuthēnai) is an aorist infinitive, referring to their initial upset, and was used of ‘ships being forced from their moorings by the pressure of a storm’.

Paul was not only concerned with them being shaken or startled in their countenance; but also about them being deceived by other ‘spirits, messages, or letters.’

Had the Thessalonians thought that Paul had changed his mind about what he had taught them? Even if they thought the contrary information had come from Paul; would they have reason to deviate? Very clearly, “the safeguard against deception and the remedy against false teaching were to hold on to the original teaching,” “which is still the test of truth and the shield against error.”

DAY OF THE LORD HAD COME?

Why did they become unsettled?

Because word was going around that the ‘day of the Lord’ that Paul had initially taught them about had already come.

‘Day of the Lord’ A Definition

In the Old Testament this time of worldwide trouble is given various names: “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” “that day,” “the Day of the Lord,” and “the Tribulation.” Against this Old Testament background, the disciples would quickly identify this time.

Here are two examples:

Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! Why do you long for the Day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. Amos 5:18

The great Day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the Day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Zephaniah 1:14–15

In these two passages, who are the prophets speaking to?

In the past, they were concerned (1 Thes. 4:13–5:11) that the Parousia had not come quickly enough, since some of their friends had died before it had taken place; now their problem was that it had come too quickly.

SO, WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

Before Jesus comes again (the day of the LORD) some things have to happen first. In other words, the ‘day of the LORD’ will be ushered in by these things.

He does not deny that Jesus’ coming will still be sudden and, to those unprepared for it, unexpected. But, as he argued in his first letter, it will not take believers by surprise. For they already belong to the day; and they know that the rebellion will herald its arrival.

-the ‘man of lawlessness or sin’ .... also known as (AKA) ‘the son of destruction’ will be revealed

He will be ‘anti-law’ or ‘law-less.’ The phrase ‘son of destruction’ is a Hebrew allusion to the fact, that his destiny is ruin. Jesus himself predicted that, in the future, ‘Because of the increase of wickedness [anomia, ‘lawlessness’], the love of most will grow cold’.. Matthew 24:12

-an apostasy will come first: What is the apostasy? The Greek word used by Paul is ἀνίσταμαιe: meaning to rise up in open defiance of authority, with the presumed intention to overthrow it or to act in complete opposition to its demands—‘to rebel against, to revolt, to engage in insurrection, rebellion. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 495. The same word for rebellion occurs in Luke 21:9, “When you hear of wars and rebellions, don’t be alarmed. Indeed, these things must take place first, but the end won’t come right away.” So Luke brings to our minds Paul’s later teaching that some things have to take place first before we expect Jesus’ coming. This will be an apostasy like none other: In reference to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas....and if you remember, he was referred to as the ‘son of perdition,’ John MacArthur said, “Monstrous as that apostasy was, it pales in comparison to the act of future apostasy Antichrist will commit. Judas betrayed the Son of God; Antichrist will proclaim himself God.”

—In this apostasy, this ‘man of lawlessness’ will do three things:

—oppose and exalt himself above every god or object of worship

—sit in God’s sanctuary.

To sit’, writes Ernest Best, ‘… is to display the minimum of respect and to make the maximum claim to deity, for God sits; it is not to sit alongside other gods in a pantheon but to take a unique place’. This ‘man’ will thus dethrone God in order to enthrone himself.

Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 reminds us of the characteristics of this man’s heart. One passage in Ez. 28:2 says, “Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.”

—publicize that he is God.

This ‘man’ will even commit the ultimate blasphemy of proclaiming himself to be God, …. Having set himself against every object of worship, he will demand for himself the worship which he has forbidden to everybody and everything else.

The Jews saw another example of ‘the abomination of desolation’ in the Roman general Pompey, who in 63 bc defeated their nation, captured Jerusalem and desecrated the temple by intruding into the Holy of Holies. The so-called Psalms of Solomon, which were written soon afterwards, refer to him as ‘the sinner’ and ‘the lawless one’.. Jesus himself was evidently clear that Daniel’s prophecy had not been completely fulfilled either in Antiochus Epiphanes or in Pompey, but awaited a further fulfilment.

As Hendriksen has put it, ‘history … repeats itself. Better, prophecy attains multiple fulfilment’. Yet all these, together with other evil leaders down the centuries, have been forerunners or anticipations of the final ‘man of lawlessness’, an eschatological yet historical person, the decisive manifestation of lawlessness and godlessness, the leader of the ultimate rebellion, the precursor of and signal for the Parousia. I agree with Geerhardus Vos that ‘we may take for granted … that the Antichrist will be a human person’. And whether we still believe in the coming of Antichrist will depend largely on whether we still believe in the coming of Christ.

1 John 2:18 agrees with this assessment: Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, “Antichrist is coming,” even now many antichrists have come.”

What is the identity of this man? Certainly, we do not know. I will expand upon this idea later; but I want this to be a hint. When Paul approached idol worshippers in Athens in Acts 17:23, he said, “For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”

In other words, what or who will you worship other than God Himself? Will you idly /(idoly) worship the counterfeit?

In verse 1, we see a coming presence/or revelation of Jesus, and in verse 8, we see a coming/revelation of the counterfeit.

Jesus is coming in power and glory (1:7), .... the man of lawlessness is coming with all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (9). Where Jesus’ miracles were meant as signs to point to the Father and truth; this ‘mans’ will be an intent to deceive.

Interestingly, something that must be revealed is consequently, also something that is now hidden. Which leads us to the truth that the ‘man of sin’ or the spirit of lawlessness and opposition to God is now in operation; but we do not see operating in full view. It is a subversive influence around us today—.... which puts things in the place of God, .... things which cheapen the sanctity of human life, sex, marriage and family, all of which God created or instituted.

Characteristics of the Restrainer (Stott)

First, it is at work now and is effectively stopping the outbreak of the rebellion.

Secondly, ‘it’ may also be referred to as ‘he’ (7). The restraint is both neuter and masculine, something and someone, a pressure and a person.

Thirdly, at the right time this ‘it’ or ‘he’ will be removed, and the removal will trigger the final timetable, namely the revelation first of Antichrist and then of Christ.

Fourthly, there must be some reason, in addition to the Thessalonians’ knowledge, which prompts Paul to write about the restraint and its removal in such guarded, roundabout and even cryptic terms.

So if we were to not do what we said we would not do; and speculate: what/who is the the Restrainer?

INFORMATION PRIVY TO THE THESSALONIANS

Remember in v.5, it says, Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this?

It also says, And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. So, in this case, it seems that the Thessalonians may be privy to some information that we are not. Interestingly, the next passage does not mention ‘what’ currently restrains; but the ‘one’ now restraining.

John Stott made this remark in commentary, The nature of what is holding him back (6), which is later personalized as the one who now holds it back (7), has caused commentators many headaches. Once again we stand at an initial disadvantage, because Paul’s Thessalonian readers knew what the restraining influence was, since he had regularly taught them about these things, whereas we have not had the benefit of the apostle’s initial instruction. It is not altogether surprising, then, that even the great Augustine, reacting against unprofitable conjectures, declared, ‘I frankly confess I do not know what he means.’

MacArthur says, “The change in gender from the neuter participle translated “what restrains” in verse 6 to the masculine participle rendered he who … restrains is significant. The sovereign, divine force that currently restrains Antichrist is exerted by a person—the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13 where Jesus used a masculine pronoun with the neuter noun translated “Spirit”). Only He has the supernatural power to hold Satan in check. The Holy Spirit has always battled wickedness in the world. Addressing the wicked pre-Flood generation, God declared, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” (Gen. 6:3).”

WHY PAUL’s TEACHING MATTERS

Last time we talked about the coming of Jesus, we learned about the justice and holiness of God. Here we learn some of the reasoning behind why people will die in their sin. In chapter one, it says they will be judged for not acknowledging God and obeying the gospel....for causing suffering.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

10 and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false, 12 so that all will be condemned —those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness.

The ‘man of sin’ will deceive many: they will not accept love or truth. In fact, the only love they will have is for their sin and unrighteousness. “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these.… But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Tim. 3:1–5, 13; cf. 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Peter 3:3–4; Jude 17–18)”

Do not let verse 11 confuse you. The reason people are lost is not because God causes them to be lost; that He somehow ordains them to be lost. They are not lost because they did not hear or understand the truth, but because they do not love it. The reason for their being deceived is that they refused to love the truth and so be saved (10). Love of the truth (it is implied) was offered to them, but they rejected it. As noted before, the ‘man of sin’ will deceive people with satanically empowered false miracles, signs, and wonders, his deception only will succeed because it fits into God’s sovereign purpose. Those who continually choose falsehood will be caught up in their own web. In the words of Proverbs 5:22, “His own iniquities will capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin.”

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

One of the larger reasons why Paul wanted the church to know about the ‘man of lawlessness’ and the coming of Jesus is not so we can have the right theological system; but because of more practical reasons. Maybe he thought by telling the church about Jesus’ victory and evil’s doom, that it would inspire courage, perseverance, and hope? Is what we DO KNOW about God’s plans enough to motivate us?

Could it be that our knowledge of Jesus’ coming will help us resolve our current pain and affliction? To teach us perseverance and how to contribute to the culmination of God’s Glory?

So what might be some practical steps that we can take regarding Paul’s instruction:

Consider prayerfully the coming of Jesus and how it is important to my life.

Recognize that you are chosen because of the love of God. 2:13 Rm 9:11; 11:5; Eph 1:4; 1Th 1:4

3. Be sanctified by the Spirit AND through belief in the truth. Grow until He comes again! “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Pe 3:18.

4. Stand firm! Instead of being upset, troubled, or anxious about life… shaken or startled… Paul called the church to “stand firm.” In the words of Jesus we are not to be ‘like reeds shaken by the wind’, but rather be rock-like and immovable. The young believers in Thessalonica had been shaken loose from their mental moorings and were adrift on a tossing sea of anxiety and fear, their faith, hope, and joy devastated by deception. The NT identifies many things that threaten our stability. That is why Paul continually stressed prayer for and because of them (1 Thes. 3:13).

5. Hold to the traditions you were taught. These are not the traditions that are meaningless; but the ones that contain God’s truth. If we hold to the truth instead of speculating; then we will have a strong mooring; and not be tossed about.

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